Spring in the Winter
by Jessy-Fran
Summary: Elsa breaks up with her boyfriend, but someone is there to comfort her. A park bench is a good place for heart-to-hearts. [Jelsa]
1. Chapter 1

Elsa cried. She hadn't wanted to, she didn't want to give Christian the satisfaction and she had managed to hold her emotionless expression until she was certain that he wouldn't see her, and then she let loose. They had been together for nearly two years and Elsa had loved her time with him but something hadn't been quite right for the last few months. There had been no love or passion. They'd lost the spark that had made them so fun in the beginning.

So Elsa had asked to meet him at the park. She'd wanted to do it in a public space, just because she was well aware of Christians' violent emotions. Wrapping up against the cold winter afternoon, Elsa had steeled herself and, with as much courage and kindness as she could, broke it off. She had expected tears, maybe even anger, but what she had received had truly surprised her.

"_To be honest Elsa, I way out of your league anyway. And here's a tip; try having sex with your next boyfriend once in a while. Maybe then you won't complain of there being no 'passion'."_

Just thinking about the cold way he'd thrown those words at her started a fresh wave of sobs. Elsa wiped her eyes on her sleeve, thankful she'd neglected to apply mascara that day. She was just collecting herself when someone sat next to her on the park bench. Elsa didn't look up, but saw out of the corner of her eye that it was definitely not her ex-boyfriend. He would never wear such scruffy looking jeans, and he had always hated converse. No, Elsa could breathe a sigh of relief. Christian hadn't returned to gloat at her tears.

The two strangers sat for a while in total silence. Elsa was happy with that. She didn't want to speak to anyone and certainly didn't want to engage in polite conversation at that moment. After a time, when her breathing was back to normal and she felt as though her eyes were less puffy, Elsa opened her bag and set to work reapplying her eye makeup. She still avoided the mascara, just in case, but added a little extra concealer to hide the redness and clean herself up. Elsa felt a lot better and relaxed into worn wood of the bench. She heard her bench partner shuffle a bit.

"So, forgive me if this is rude or anything but are you okay?"

Elsa looked over to the young man, surprised by his boldness. He looked about her age, maybe older, with a shock of white hair and dressed casually. He leant forward and she noticed there was a kindness in his face that she was drawn to.

"Pardon?"

"Well, I was taking a walk and saw you crying after talking to that guy. Didn't think much of it until I noticed you'd disappeared and saw him stalking around the field like a thing possessed."

That panicked Elsa and she instantly started looking around, convinced she would see Christian barrelling towards her.

"Don't worry, I followed him about, made sure he left and then came to make sure you were okay. Not many people come to the rose gardens so I figured you might have found some peace and quiet here."

Elsa didn't know what to say. This stranger was being so kind to her and all she could do was burst into tears again.

"Hey! Don't cry, shit I'm not good at this stuff." The man reached into in pocket and pulled out a pack of tissues. In his haste to give one to Elsa, he managed to pull the entire wad out of the pack and onto the ground. As he scrambled to save them, Elsa could help but laugh softly at his antics. "Here, this one's mostly dry. It'll be okay for blowing your nose at least."

Elsa took it and sorted herself before thanking him.

"I'm Elsa, by the way. Sorry about this, I just broke up with my boyfriend and he didn't take it so well and you can see."

"Well not matter what, you should never say things to make people hurt so much that they'd cry. That's not right."

Elsa shrugged. She let herself talk, knowing that she would probably never see this guy again.

"It's my fault, I wasn't enough for him. I should have done more, you know, _in the bedroom_. And I get that it's just-"

"Whoa, hold up right there. Are you telling me he blamed you for not _having sex with him?!_"

Elsa nodded, her cheeks flaring red as the stranger stated it so bluntly.

"No, nu-uh, I refuse to listen to this." The man put his hands to his ear and shook his head comically. Elsa actually felt herself brighten when she watched him. This man was acting as though they were best friends and Elsa found herself relaxing more and more as the stranger put on a stern face.

"Don't you dare say things like that, and don't believe them either!" He shook a finger and Elsa knew this was the man's big brother side taking over. "You owe him nothing. If you want sex then that's cool but you should never ever feel as though you need to do anything with anyone, no matter now bad or guilty they make you feel."

The man sat down next to her and looked sheepish. He ran a hand through his snow white hair and grin at Elsa, making her stomach do a little flip at the sight.

"Sorry, sometimes I go into Brother Bear mode. I've been talking to my little sister about that sort of thing recently. She's sixteen and an absolute nightmare."

Elsa chuckled.

"Oh trust me, I know. Mine's eighteen and she's still got her head in the clouds. Sorry to say, but it doesn't get any better!"

The man slap a hand to his forehead and groaned.

"She's driving me into an early grave! I mean seriously, look at this!" He pointed at his unnaturally white hair, "she's making me go grey at twenty three!"

The pair laughed together and Elsa felt as though she was going to be okay. They talked for a little while longer about their sisters until Elsa looked at the time and realised she had to be home soon to make dinner for herself and Anna.

"Well I really must go, but it's been wonderful Mr…?" Elsa suddenly realised that she didn't know the man's name! How rude she had been for forgetting to ask! But the man just laughed and stood, brushing the seat of his pants off before holding out a hand.

"I'm Jackson Overland, but please just call me Jack."

"Jack, yes…" Elsa took the hand and shook it. She felt how cold his hands were even through her woollen gloves.

"So…" Jack stood awkwardly, hands in his pockets trying to look casual but appearing anything but.

"So?"

Jack sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Look, I know this doesn't look great, what with you just coming out of a relationship, but I really enjoyed our chat and since I've only just moved here I'm at a bit of a loss. Could I get your number? I don't mean in a romantic way or anything, I just could do with a friend to meet up for coffee with and go to the cinema."

His babbling entertained Elsa, and she admired his candidness. She too might need a friend, knowing that Christian was bound to try to turn some of her friends against her. So they exchanged phone numbers and the promise of meeting in the night week.

She walked away with a certain sadness in her heart, one that she knew wasn't about to go away anytime soon, but also a new world of possibilities in the form of her budding new friendship. Jack was something that she needed, something new and bright in her dull and repetitive life. Maybe Jack would bring Elsa's springtime?

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><p><strong>AN:** I broke up with my boyfriend today. I wrote this to vent. I feel like it went well.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack contacted Elsa later that week, asking if she wouldn't mind going shopping with him. Apparently he needed help choosing a Christmas present for his little sister and thought that Elsa might be a suitable and willing candidate for giving opinions on his choices. Luckily for Jack Elsa wasn't busy that coming weekend, but she wasn't about to tell him that. Heaven forbid she looked desperate for company.

"I don't know Jack, I might be busy that weekend."

Elsa was sat on the sofa surrounded by editing notes and a tin of chocolate biscuits. On the opposite end of the sofa sprawled her sister Anna, watching a film on TV. Elsa didn't need to look over to her to know Anna's attention would be squarely fixed upon her now that she had mentioned Jacks name.

"Oh please Elsa! I'm rubbish at picking out good presents, and this could really do with a woman's touch. I mean, what the hell do I know about sixteen year old girls?"

Elsa could hear the mirth in Jacks voice and she knew he was enjoying cajoling her out, and she was enjoying it too. It had been a while since someone had really wanted her to be out with them. After the passing of her parents she hadn't been in a good place and many of her friends had either left or lost contact with her. Once she started dating Christian she had regain some of her friends but she'd always felt like an extra, sitting out on the side lines and tagging along her boyfriends invites to places. Now she was the one being asked and although it was only a bit of Christmas shopping, the feeling was thrilling.

"Oh all right. I really don't want to hear you beg!"

"Awesome, I'll meet you in town at… half eleven? In the main square. Be prepared to have your brain picked on all sorts of present ideas!"

"I can't wait Jack." Elsa rolled her eyes and added her best sarcastic edge to her voice but couldn't hide the smile she was wearing from creeping into her words. "See you then Jack."

"See you Elsa, bye!"

Hanging up, Elsa purposefully kept her eye contact away from Anna as she felt her sister staring at her from across the couch. Elsa took another biscuit from the tin and slowly nibbled at it. She could feel Anna itching with questions and was taking great delight in keeping her waiting. After a few minutes, Anna obviously couldn't wait any longer.

"So, who's Jack?"

"Oh? Didn't I mention him to you? I met him a few days ago in the park. He's a nice guy, just moved into the area and doesn't know many people so I gave him my number in case he needed a friend."

A short but thick silence settled in the room. It was broken only after Anna had processed what Elsa had just said.

"Wait. _You_ gave your number to a _guy you've just met_?"

"Yes Anna, isn't that what I've just said?"

"Elsa, I don't think half of your friends of years had your number for the first few months of you having a phone!"

"I think you're wildly over exaggerating Anna."

"No seriously, since when did you give out your number? And to a guy, when you've only just broken up with Christian?" Anna leaned over and put a hand on Elsa's forehead. "Are you sick? Have you been outside without a coat again?"

Elsa batted away the hand playfully and smiled.

"No I haven't, now will you get off me you great big lump!" She threw a biscuit at her sister's head and small scale fight of gentle kicks and thrown pillows started. Anna eventually won by rolling off the sofa with the biscuit tin in her arms. Elsa surrendered in return for a chocolate chip cookie. The two settled down again and Elsa smoothed out some of her papers which had been crumpled in the scuffle.

"So, is he cute?"

Elsa stiffened at the question but kept her face from showing any surprise. Of course Anna would ask such a question. She was eighteen and dating some posh twat from the grammar school. Anna was just in her final year and when she wasn't talking about university choices she was talking about boys. Elsa had been upset when her baby sister had started dating but she had come to the conclusion that it had to happen at some point. And so, with gritted teeth Elsa had had 'The Talk' with her and sent her on her merry way with five condoms and a promise to 'be sensible', as though that would do her any good.

Unfortunately Anna was very good at picking very bad boyfriends. Almost every month she'd managed to have her heart broken by some jerk or other, and every time Elsa was there to pick up the pieces and hand tissues over. But this correct boyfriend, Hans, had been around for over three months how and Elsa didn't like him one bit. Sure he was a straight A student, captain of the ruby squad with a rich family and good genes, but there was something in the way he smiled at Elsa when she answered the door to door or when he was over for dinner. No, Elsa was not a fan of Hans ns she was doing her best to keep an eye on him. Anna was besotted with him and Elsa would not see her sister be emotionally destroyed by that awful boy.

"Elsa? Are you even listening to me?"

"Huh?"

"God, and you say _I_ need to pay attention more often?!" Anna laughed and took a handful of biscuits, stuffing one into her mouth and chomping away before licking her lips from satisfaction. "I said, is this Jack guy cute?"

"Anna, I'm not looking for another boyfriend any time soon!" Elsa shot a reproachful look at her sister before turning back to the TV screen. "We're meeting up as friends, that's all."

"So he _is_ cute!"

"What gave you that idea?"

"Well, you certainly not denying it!" Anna looked positively ecstatic. Elsa rolled her eyes and shook her head. Anna was the sort of person to believe in True Love and Love at First Sight, and unfortunately that also meant jumping from guy to guy. That was why she was always having her heart broken, not because she was sleeping around (though so long as it was safe Elsa could think of worse things for Anna to be doing) but because she was chasing after some romantic but utterly ridiculous dream.

"Anna, don't you have some homework you ought to be doing?"

"Hey, you can't get rid of me that easily!"

Luckily Anna's phone started ringing at that moment and Elsa was saved. She didn't breathe a complete sigh of relief once she heard Anna answer with a little squeal "Hans-y baby!" Elsa was thankful when Anna left the room, no doubt for some privacy, and finally she could focus on her latest editing submission.

Elsa worked as a freelance editor, working on everything from CVs and cover letters to news articles and theses. Her current job was a fairly boring scientific paper on something she didn't really understand but it was easy enough to work through, crossing out grammatical errors and adding punctuation as needed. It was so simple in fact that as she worked, Elsa found herself thinking about her upcoming meeting with Jack.

She was excited, of course she was. There needed to be something new in her life and meeting people was the best cure for boredom she could think of. Besides, it would be fun showing Jack around the town and chatting about each other. Maybe she could take him to her favourite tea room? Even if he didn't want to go, she could go on her own. That would be nice. Elsa hadn't been there for a few months now and she missed just relaxing with a cup of tea and a new book.

The more Elsa thought about the places she would show Jack, the less she concentrated on the paper she was going through. Eventually Anna came back to the living room after her phone call and found Elsa asleep on her side of the sofa, pen in hand, and a smile on her face.

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><p><strong>AN: **So this was very well received which is lovely to see, so while this was originally going to be a one shot, I decided to add a few more chapters!

In response to one of the reviews, yes I do like Pitch/Elsa but I am also a fan of Jelsa. I depends on my mood. Sometimes when I want something dark and gritty I write Pitch/Elsa, but this is a lot lighter and focuses on different issues so Jelsa was a far more suitable pairing! Also, I really like Jack and Elsa as friends so that is another reason I sometimes prefer Pitch/Elsa because I can write Jack as one of the best friends that ever lived!

Also, thank you for your kind words of support as far as my break up goes. I won't deny there are elements of my ex in the fictional 'Christian', but he is a tiny character in this story and I was using him as a starting block and a tool to get out my frustration!

Please review if you enjoyed this, as you can see it makes me write soooo much faster!


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